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Despite the fact that Alabama entered the 2015 season with Reggie Ragland as its biggest returning star and the closest thing to a household name on the Crimson Tide defense, Bama enters Saturday’s pivotal SEC West showdown against LSU with the Ragland-led linebackers as the team’s forgotten unit.
Offensively, running back Derrick Henry has stolen the show, already cracking the 1,000-yard mark, while on defense the ridiculous run-stopping ability of the front line and big plays made by defensive backs such as Eddie Jackson and Minkah Fitzpatrick have garnered the most attention.
But the linebackers have been nothing but solid, if not flashy, and have been a major key to Alabama’s success this season. In addition to Ragland, the team’s leading tackler, outside linebacker Reuben Foster is also having a fine season.
Ragland is far and away the top tackler on the Crimson Tide roster, recording 71 stops so far this season, including 18 for a loss. But even with that, his accomplishments have been overshadowed to a degree by teammates and other defensive players around the conference. While Ragland has racked up an impressive number of tackles, it’s dwarfed by Missouri’s Kentrell Brothers, who had 14 on Thursday night against Mississippi State to bring his season total to an unbelievable 117.
Ragland also hasn’t been the star of many highlight reel plays for Alabama. He has just 2 sacks this season and lacks a single interception, fumble recovery or blocked kick. Foster is the same way. His 39 tackles are tied for 2nd on the team, but he has just 1 sack and hasn’t been involved with a single forced turnover.
Perhaps another factor in the lack of attention for Alabama’s linebackers is that there hasn’t really been a third or fourth member of the group to step up in 2015. Denzel Devall, Shaun Dion Hamilton and Dillon Lee have each played in all eight games for the Tide but have combined to make 44 tackles. Junior Ryan Anderson has emerged somewhat, recording 17 tackles with 2 sacks and a fumble recovery but not necessarily enough to garner a ton of attention.
As a unit, the linebackers have also sacrificed playing time to the secondary as nickel and dime packages become more and more common as the Tide tries to contend with prevalent spread and pass-happy offenses throughout the conference.
But perhaps that’s what makes Ragland and Foster’s efforts, often completely on their own, all the more impressive. The linebackers certainly deserve credit for Alabama’s amazing run-stopping ability. The Tide’s opponents are averaging less than 80 yards per game on the ground and it’s not because Bama has been able to jam eight or nine players in the box.
Ragland and Foster cover all parts of the field as well as any linebacker duo in the country. They might not be racking up sacks or interceptions, but Alabama wouldn’t be where it is without them.
Shane Mettlen is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Texas A&M, Missouri and Alabama.
